Badger Sett Ale Club

Find out more about our Beer Experts

Andy Mogg

New for 2011, Andy Mogg, the man behind the beer blog, Beer Reviews www.beerreviews.co.uk. Over to Andy for his five facts about himself.

Five facts

1. I'm obsessed with chilli, I've got over 100 varities so picking which ones to grow each year is nearly as hard as answering some of your questions.
2. The quality of british breweries websites really winds me up, I'm a web developer by trade and it still astounds me as to how little emphasis 90% of the brewers in the country put on their website. Luckily the Badger one doesn't fall into that trap.
3.Like Tom Stainer I too have size 13 feet.
4. If i could live anywhere in the world i'd not move far from where I am now, maybe somewhere with space for a microbrewery and a bigger greenhouse, I've got the North yorkshire moors and east coast on my doorstep and exciting places like the Lake district and Yorkshire Dales aren't far away. Plus my neighbours are really great and take all my beer deliveries in for me....
5. Rugby's better than football.

Marverine Cole

Marverine Cole, businesswoman and journalist, can also be found under the guise of The Beer Beauty. Based in Birmingham, Marverine has her own fun blog www.beerbeauty.co.uk which is linked to special ad-hoc beer events and news. She doesn’t just LOVE beer however….. she’s CRAZY about beer and wants to spread her message that there IS beauty in beer!

Interesting facts about Marverine Cole

1.What item could you not live without?
Sad but true: my iPhone. I’m a broadcaster and journalist so I’m out and about a lot, both in front of and behind the camera. So the phone keeps me connected to my family, friends, my fiancé and the business that he and I run together.

2. When and what was your first pint?
I was about 17, in a club called SNOBS in Birmingham and it was probably some sort of strong cider, but I can’t honestly remember!

3. If you could only ever hear one song, watch one film and read one book what would they be?
- Song: Frank Sinatra: Come Fly With Me
- Film: High Society with Katherine Hepburn, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Stewart & Cary Grant
- Book: Andrea Levy – Small Island

4. What is your perfect holiday destination?
Anywhere in the Caribbean. My parents were born in Jamaica so I’d love to explore their homelands much more than I have already. Plus soak up the sun rays, enjoy the delicious food washed down with copious amounts of Guinness Punch!

5. If you had to be stuck in a lift with someone, who would it be?
David Beckham. I don’t think we need to elaborate here, do we?

Johnny Goodall

Johnny Goodall has written books on beer, articles for the Spectator and Telegraph on beer, he came with us last year to River Cottage to learn about cooking with beer – basically, he really likes beer!

Interesting facts about Johnny Goodall

1 - If you were a pint of ale how would you describe yourself?
“Malty” and “hoppy”

2 - What’s the greatest pub you’ve ever been to?
The Spitfire Bar in Alexandria – not exactly a pub but a great drinking den

3 - If you owned a pub what would it be called?
“The Last Pub For 50 Miles”

4 - What’s the greatest beer you’ve ever tasted?
Bottles of Bud, watching bats swooping on a swimming pool at night in Death Valley. Thus proving it ain’t what you drink but where you drink it.

5 - What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
Er, cinnamon?

Ben McFarland

Ben - Dwink Ben McFarland has been named “British Beer Writer of the Year” on two occasions, the first as the youngest ever recipient. He’s the author of two award-winning books on beer - “World’s Best Beers” and “Good Beer Guide West Coast USA”, which he co-wrote with fellow drinks writer Tom Sandham. He also writes about drink and pubs for a number of national newspapers including the Guardian, the Independent and The Telegraph. He is also the pubs and bars reviewer for Time Out and, along with Tom Sandham, the co-founder of www.Dwink.com.

Five facts

1. Ben will score the winning goal for QPR in the FA Cup Final.
2. Ben can win a game of Connect Four in only three moves
3. Ben once touched MC Hammer
4. Ben can successfully explain the concept of colour to a blind person
5. When Ben isn’t writing books about beer he does selfless, voluntary work at a dolphin orphanage. But he doesn’t like to talk about it.

Mark Dredge

Mark Dredge, the British Guild of Beer Writers New Media Writer of the Year 2009, is widely respected in the world of beer blogging. His blog Pencil & Spoon, started out as a food blog (hence the Spoon), but moved (wisely!) into the realms of real ale! Mark is the youngest member of the British Guild of Beer Writers to win a silver tankard, and has written on beer for CAMRA’s Beer Magazine, the Guardians Word of Mouth blog and now, and most importantly ………..us!

Interesting facts about Mark Dredge

If you could only ever hear one song, watch one film and read one book what would they be?
Song: Mr Brightside by The Killers
Film: Inglourious Basterds
Book: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon

When and what was your first pint?
It was probably a pint of Malibu and Coke in a dirty rock club when I was 16. After that it was probably a lager top. Thankfully a few years later I saw sense…

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Try the IPA.

What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
LOTS of American hops - utilising the hop alphabet from Apollo to Zeus.

What’s the greatest pub you’ve ever been to?
I love The Bull in Horton Kirby, Kent. Great people inside, fantastic beer range, delicious food, a lovely garden and it’s one of the few places that I can walk into and the landlord says hello to me by name and asks how I am while pulling me a pint.

Mark Dredge's Featured Posts

Cooking Lager

Rather than attempt a polite introduction to the infamous and anonymous beer blogger, Cooking Lager, we’ll let him explain in his own words:

"I am northern scum. I live oop north. I enjoy drinking. I like beer, all beer, and whilst I may nominally prefer "good" beer, I am cheap. Beer is a simple product of simple ingredients. Mainly water with fermented commodity grains and a weed as its main flavour. Beer ought to be cheap. Thus I cannot be bothered to be a beer snob and quaff whatever is cheap wherever I find it. That’s usually supermarkets, as they pile it high and sell it cheap. I drink in the odd pub where the beer is not a sting."

Interesting facts about Cooking Lager

What item could you not live without?
My wits.

What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
A bag of dry roasted peanuts. Beer is nicer with peanuts.

If you were a pint of ale how would you describe yourself?
Easy going, cheap, deceptively alcoholic

If you owned a pub what would it be called?
The Blue Oyster Bar

Cooking Lager's Featured Posts

Tim Hampson

Tim Hampson has been writing and broadcasting about beer for many years. His published work includes contributions to Eyewitness Companion Guide to Beer. Tim is Beer Correspondent for BBC Good Food Live and contributor to the Sky Pub Channel. He is Chairman of the British Guild of Beer Writers and has visited many countries to experience different beer cultures and traditions. Tim has just launched his own blog – called – Tim Hampson’s beer blog.

Interesting facts about Tim Hampson

If you had to be stuck in a lift with someone, who would it be?
I once got stuck in a lift with the Incredible Hulk, never again.

When and what was your first pint?
Brown and mild in a community pub in Redhill, Surrey. It seemed so grown up bit I couldn’t think of anything else to ask for. I was 14 and the landlord new it.

Is the glass half empty, half full or back on the bar awaiting a re-fill?!
Well if its your round

What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
Saffron

Tim Hampson's Featured Posts

Zak Avery

Zak, AKA The Beer Boy, is a prolific commentator on the UK beer scene, with a regular column in trade newspaper Off Licence News and his own site,thebeerboy.co.uk. In 2008 Zak was named Beer Writer of the Year by the British Guild of Beer Writers.

Interesting facts about Zak Avery

What’s in your pocket/bag right now?
A netbook, a smartphone, a USB stick, a camera and spare rechargeable batteries. I'm not as much of a geek as that makes me sound!

Where is the best place to sit on a bus?
Top and front

If you owned a pub what would it be called?
"The Dew Drop Inn" make me laugh every time

What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
I think Badger should brew a vanilla stout.

Zak Avery's Featured Posts

Melissa Cole

Melissa Cole is living the beer dream.

One of the UK’s leading beer experts, she also heads up the UK’s only dedicated beer tasting business, lovebeer@borough, and is regularly invited to judge at the world’s leading beer competitions, such as the Great American Beer Festival, the International Beer Challenge, World Beer Cup & the Great British Beer Festival - to name but a few...

Her regular TV appearances, radio commentary, published work and popular blog ‘Taking the Beard Out of Beer’ - combined with a willingness to get her hands dirty by guest brewing at cutting-edge breweries - has gained her as much respect from within the brewing industry as she has from beer fans around the globe.

Interesting facts about Melissa Cole

When and what was your first pint?
I can’t remember my first ever pint but I can remember the pint that turned me into a real ale fanatic, it was Rooster’s Cream in about 1998.

How long is a piece of string?
7 (because my dad says that’s the answer to the universe and who am I to argue with him!)

Do you prefer to look left or right?
Straight ahead thanks, I like to look forward to things and definitely prefer to see what’s coming at me

What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
Hmmm, that’s a very long list indeed! Possibly some Nelson Sauvin hops, they are just sooo aromatic and mouth-wateringly rounded in flavour

Melissa Cole's Featured Posts

Pete Brown

Pete was crowned British Guild of Beer Writers’ Beer Writer of the Year in 2009 and has written three books on drink and drinking - Man Walks Into a Pub, Three Sheets to the Wind, and Hops and Glory. Pete also has his own beer blog – funnily enough it is called , Pete Brown’s Beer Blog!

Interesting facts about Pete Brown

What is the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Be more aware of the effect you have on other people

What is your perfect holiday destination?
The foredeck of the Bark Europa, a three-masted tall-ship, somewhere towards the equator in the mid-Atlantic, as the sun starts to sink towards the horizon and the deckhouse bar opens for business. Last time I was there, I had a book to write and a barrel of beer to stress about! Desperate to go back for an actual holiday.

What item could you not live without?
I hate to say this. And I really resent this item for making me say it, and for making me sound like a bit of a knob for saying it. But sadly, grudgingly, I have to admit it’s my iPhone.

What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
My wife, the Beer Widow, says it has to be chocolate.

Pete Brown's Featured Posts

Adrian Tierney-Jones

Adrian has been writing about beer for well over a decade with numerous books and articles under his belt and a new book, 1001 Beers you must try before you die launched this year. Adrian also writes his own beer blog – Called to the bar. In 2007 Adrian was the winner of Budweiser Budvar John White Travel Bursary and silver award winner in the Guild’s Award for National Journalism 2006 and 2008.

Interesting facts about Adrian Tierney-Jones

What item could you not live without?
Trousers

If you could only ever hear one song, watch one film and read one book what would they be?
Theme on a variation of Thomas Tallis, Withnail & I, Ulysses

Would you rather be able to swim like a fish or fly like a bird?
Fly like a bird

What ingredient would you add to a new Badger ale?
Coriander, black pepper and star anise

Adrian Tierney-Jones's Featured Posts

Tom Stainer

Tom Stainer is Editor of CAMRA’s What’s Brewing and Award winning, Beer Magazine. Tom also wrote for the Morning Advertiser for a number of years and edited the Morning Advertiser Scotland for three years prior to taking up his current role. Tom is married and lives in Northamptonshire.

Interesting facts about Tom Stainer

- I have no interest in football and therefore I'm not really a "man", according to many
- I once accidentally punched Steven Spielberg
- If I could live anywhere, it would probably be somewhere in New Zealand
- I have size 13 feet
- I just don't get Glee - do I regain any manliness?